Nokia N82 is the one of newest member of Nokia N-series family. As other recent mobile phones, The N82 has many specifications. It has Assisted Global Positioning System named A-GPS which developed by nokia. N82 is a business phone. So it has many business functions such as excel and word.
The Nokia N82 is solid bar style 3G Smartphone which oozes appeal & is packed full of high speed technologies for the travelling business user. The N82 is a member of the N series which has been designed by Nokia & includes a number of popular Smartphone's including the Nokia N73, Nokia N77, Nokia N81, Nokia N92, Nokia N93, Nokia N93i & the Nokia N95. The N82 comes in a smooth & stylish silver coloured casing which comes with a large colour screen.
Since this year, most of mobile phones comes with 5Mp camera. Now it is usual thing. But N82 has a special 5Mp camera which has many specifications. It has a special Carl Zeiss Optics & Tessar™ Lens for clear capturing. Also it has a complete media player and 2.4 inch screen which supports to 240 x 320 pixels resolution.
More features of Nokia N82
Assisted Global Positioning System A-GPS
3G HSDPA Technology
2.4 Inch LCD QVGA 16.7 Million Colour Screen (240 x 320 pixels)
5 Megapixel Camera with Carl Zeiss Optics & Tessar™ Lens
FM Radio with Visual Radio
100 Mbytes Memory plus 2 Gbytes MicroSD™ Memory Card
New Nokia N82 Music Mobile Phone
Nokia N82 is the one of newest member of Nokia N-series family. As other recent mobile phones, The N82 has many specifications. It has Assisted Global Positioning System named A-GPS which developed by nokia. N82 is a business phone. So it has many business functions such as excel and word.
The Nokia N82 is solid bar style 3G Smartphone which oozes appeal & is packed full of high speed technologies for the travelling business user. The N82 is a member of the N series which has been designed by Nokia & includes a number of popular Smartphone's including the Nokia N73, Nokia N77, Nokia N81, Nokia N92, Nokia N93, Nokia N93i & the Nokia N95. The N82 comes in a smooth & stylish silver coloured casing which comes with a large colour screen.
Since this year, most of mobile phones comes with 5Mp camera. Now it is usual thing. But N82 has a special 5Mp camera which has many specifications. It has a special Carl Zeiss Optics & Tessar™ Lens for clear capturing. Also it has a complete media player and 2.4 inch screen which supports to 240 x 320 pixels resolution.
More features of Nokia N82
Assisted Global Positioning System A-GPS
3G HSDPA Technology
2.4 Inch LCD QVGA 16.7 Million Colour Screen (240 x 320 pixels)
5 Megapixel Camera with Carl Zeiss Optics & Tessar™ Lens
FM Radio with Visual Radio
100 Mbytes Memory plus 2 Gbytes MicroSD™ Memory Card
Review: Griffin PowerDock2 for iPhone(s) and iPod(s)
Few weeks back, Griffin Technology announced PowerDock chargers which allows you to charge from 2 to 4 iPhones and/or iPods at once. There are other solutions for charging multiple i-Devices (ie. buy a second wall charger or a music/speakers dock from Altec Lansing or Bose) but none of which provides the sleekness of PowerDock stations (MSRP $49-$69) with its low-profile aluminum design with minimal cord exposure. I received a PowerDock2 review unit from Griffin (thanks to Jeniifer L. at FortyThreePR for the arrangement), you'll find my review below.
A lot of people may wonder why is it necessary to charge two iPhone s and/or iPods at once, instead of taking turns. I have two answers for that: 1). in some scenarios such as preparing for a trip for the next day, it's nice to be able to simultaneously charge two or more devices at once and 2). Family members - if you have a growing family, chances are you will have a few iPods and iPhone(s) amongst Mom, Dad, Kids and visitors fighting for the one charger you have. For the most part, iPods don't even come with a wall-charger anymore. These scenarios will make you wish you had a PowerDock in hand.
The PowerDock2 packaging is no non-sense; as soon as you open it, the PowerDock reveals itself along with power charger and six ipod adapters/inserts which provides a perfect fit to all iPods (and iPhone) up to date. Although in two weeks, the iPhone 3G will very likely require a new adapter insert. Regarding to the inserts, I have a couple of complaints: 1). Once installed, it is hard to remove due to its smooth/curvature design. I had to use a toothpick to pry it out after I installed the wrong size insert; it would have been nice to label each insert for its dedicated iPod generation. 2). With the insert in place, it is a real tight fit; which means you'll really have to push your device down to get a good flush connection thus charging. As for me, I decided to leave the inserts completely out to make charging an easier task (warning: if you don't have a proper adapter-insert in place, you are taking a chance of snapping off the connectors in the event you push your iPod/iPhone forwards or backwards, consider yourself warned!). A benefit of leaving the inserts off is the ability to charge an iPhone with a sleeve on them, ie. Griffin ClearBoost or Wave (see picture); this is very handy more so than any other dock on the market today. Kudos to Griffin Technology on this design!Overall, I am very pleased with Griffin PowerDock2's design and quality; it has a very low profile which can blend into most modern homes. If I can add one more feature, it would be adding more connectivity (ie. two sets of an auxiliary output and USB/data ports for syncing) on the back of the PowerDock; this feature would be handy for people with a nice stereo system.
Please find a slide show for unboxing and product images below (or click here to view album):
Nokia to Acquire Symbian Limited
Nokia today announced it has launched a cash offer to acquire all of the shares of Symbian Limited that Nokia does not already own, at a price of EUR 3.647 per share. The net cash outlay from Nokia to purchase the approximately 52% of Symbian Limited shares it does not already own will be approximately EUR 264 million.Nokia has received irrevocable undertakings from Sony Ericsson Mobile
Samsung G800 challenges N95 with 5Mp camera
After nokia lunched N95 Samsung thought to manufacture similar phone. As a result they made Samsung G800 and they joined 5megapixel battle.like other latest Samsung phones this is also ultra slim and it is glossy finish similar to the LG Shine and a reassuring solid casing made up of metal and plastic.
When talk about camera it is 5mp and supported with xenon flash, autofocus, LED focus-assist light, 3x optical (inner) zoom, image stabilisation (digital) and red-eye reduction, it's impressively close on paper to a standalone digital camera.
There basic photo editing suite lets you simply edit your photos.and you can upload your picture to a blog via ShoZu.
It's not all about the camera, though. There's a comprehensive music player that supports several files including, MP3, AAC and WMA files, and an FM radio. The handset also includes a Web browser and HSDPA (3.5G), so you can browse the Web at up to speeds of 7.2Mbps
Samsung G800 supports java games an applications like google maps.
Opera Mobile 9.5 Public Beta To Face The Mobile World July 15
The Opera Mobile 9.5 public beta version will finally be available on July 15. This was announced recently by Opera after an extensive delay left everyone hanging as to when they can experience the new mobile web browser’s added features and improvements.Initially introduced in January, the Opera 9.5 had to be kept under wraps for some time to ensure its overall reliability and conformity with
Nokia Music PC client Updated with Bug Fixes
Nokia has released a new version of the Nokia Music PC client today, which will fix over one hundred defects according to the update news: “Things we have been able to solve include a large number of ‘stability’ type defects, the ‘Unknown Artist’ bug, as well as a number of issues around device connection.”To upgrade to this new version, you can just install the new version over the old version
Pink Samsung Soul Available in UK
Phones 4u in UK has start selling the Samsung Soul (SGH-U900), in a special pink color. At only 12.9mm thin, Samsung Soul equipped with a 5 megapixel camera. Features such as face detection, image stabilizer and Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) are also equipped in Soul.With magical touch by DaCPTM, navigation indicators on the keypad of the phone change according to the user’s needs, making navigation
Palm Announces Unlocked Centro Smartphone and Google Maps with My Location
Palm Centro smartphone is now available unlocked for U.S. customers. Palm also announced that Google Maps for mobile with My Location on Centro is available for Centro starting tomorrow, giving customers faster access to local maps and driving directions.The unlocked Palm Centro retains the smartphone’s compact, modern design and is dressed in a new white color with grey accents. Centro offers
Alltel Wireless rolls out Rev. A broadband network
Alltel Wireless today announced that it will continue expanding its wireless broadband network in 2008 with the launch of EVDO (evolution data optimized) Revision A technology. Alltel plans an initial rollout of Rev. A to 18 market areas and dozens of cities, including Charlotte, New Orleans, Phoenix and Tampa. Customers using Rev. A will experience average upload speeds of 500-800 Kbps with
Nokia 6220 Classic 5Mp camera phone
Last year Nokia has launched Nokia N95 and introduced GPS and 5Mp cameras to mobile phones. Now in this year they have improved their camera technology. Nokia has included Carl Zeiss™ lens to their 6220 mobile phone. This is the first Nokia phone which includes Carl Zeiss™ lens.
The Nokia 6220 Classic is a sophisticated & candy bar designed 3G Smartphone which comes in a choice of two colours. The handset comes in a black coloured casing which comes with turquoise blue coloured keys which make the numbers & letter options stand out. A purple coloured casing is truly striking & pleasing on the eye which gives the handset an element of fun & surprise as it looks like a fashion phone. The 6220 Classic comes in a curvaceous candy bar shaped casing which has a solid feel & weighs ninety grams.
Unlike N95, 6220’s internal memory is 120Mbytes. But it supports up to 8Gb SD cards. Another key feature is GPS receiver. Nokia 6220 has a GPS receiver with A-GPS function. Also Nokia has improved 6220’s communication with 3G HSDPA technology.
More features of Nokia 6220 Classic
3G HSDPA Technology
120 Mbytes Memory Plus MicroSD™ Memory Card Option up to 8 Gbytes
FM Stereo Radio with RDS
GPS Receiver & A-GPS Function
2.2 Inch QVGA 16 Million Colour Screen (320 x 240 Pixels)
5 Megapixel Camera with Carl Zeiss™ Lens & Xenon Flash
The end of the dream
No matter how it works out in the long run, the purchase of Symbian by Nokia marks the end of a dream -- the creation of a new independent OS company to be the mobile equivalent of Microsoft. Put a few beers into former Symbian employees and they'll get a little wistful about it, but the company they talk about most often is Psion, the PDA company that spawned Symbian.
Psion never got much attention in the US, but it was a pioneer in the PDA market in the UK, and even to this day I think the Psion Revo is one of the two coolest-looking PDAs ever made (the Palm V is the other one).
The Revo
Psion explored many ideas that eventually turned into major new consumer electronics categories, but it failed to follow up on them. The company was effectively dismembered when Symbian was formed, and many of its best people drifted off to other companies. Now Symbian itself is transitioning to something very different, with most of its people absorbed into Nokia. What the Psion veterans talk about wistfully is how many smart people worked at Psion, how many great ideas the company fumbled, and how successful many of the people have been in the tech industry post-Psion. In this sense, Psion is similar to many other tech pioneer companies that assembled staffs of very bright people, taught them how to work together, and then blew apart like exploding stars, scattering the elements of new companies across the industry. This process dates back at least to Fairchild Semiconductor, which trained the founders of many of the most prominent semiconductor companies (link). You can find similar networks of former employees from places like Apple, Netscape, and Palm. I think Yahoo is in the process of forming a network now, and some day there's going to be a dandy one made of former Googlers.
What makes the Psion story different is that many of the Psion veterans had to leave the UK, or join non-UK companies, in order to become successful. Some are in other parts of Europe, some are in the US, and some are in London but working for foreign companies. This is a source of intense frustration to the Psion folks I've talked with. They feel like not only their company failed, but their country failed to take advantage of the expertise they had built.
There's a big body of academic research on why Silicon Valley has been successful in sustaining itself, and part of the reason is that the Valley recycles companies very efficiently. Failing companies do not last long, but in the process the brightest people and ideas are rarely lost, they are just shuffled around into new configurations.
About a year ago, Andrew Orlowski of the Register wrote an amazing article on the history of Psion, and how company culture and government philosophy failed to take advantage of it to grow a new industry. It's the longest piece I've ever seen in the Register, almost the nucleus of a book, and it's well worth reading. It didn't get enough attention when it was published, and I'm embarrassed to say that I never posted a link to it. So I'm glad to remedy that now. If you want to understand the context what happened to Symbian, and learn a bit about how the tech industry works, go read it here.
If you want to hear more about what Symbian is morphing into, two of its executives have just started personal weblogs in which they are commenting on the migration to Symbian Foundation (among other things). It's an interesting move, and it seems symbolic of the transition they're trying to make into the open source world. Previously Symbian had a company blog that several execs contributed to; now the execs have personal blogs where they talk directly to the industry.
David Wood (Symbian's EVP of Research) link.
John Forsyth (Symbian's Strategy VP) link.
Psion never got much attention in the US, but it was a pioneer in the PDA market in the UK, and even to this day I think the Psion Revo is one of the two coolest-looking PDAs ever made (the Palm V is the other one).
The Revo
Psion explored many ideas that eventually turned into major new consumer electronics categories, but it failed to follow up on them. The company was effectively dismembered when Symbian was formed, and many of its best people drifted off to other companies. Now Symbian itself is transitioning to something very different, with most of its people absorbed into Nokia. What the Psion veterans talk about wistfully is how many smart people worked at Psion, how many great ideas the company fumbled, and how successful many of the people have been in the tech industry post-Psion. In this sense, Psion is similar to many other tech pioneer companies that assembled staffs of very bright people, taught them how to work together, and then blew apart like exploding stars, scattering the elements of new companies across the industry. This process dates back at least to Fairchild Semiconductor, which trained the founders of many of the most prominent semiconductor companies (link). You can find similar networks of former employees from places like Apple, Netscape, and Palm. I think Yahoo is in the process of forming a network now, and some day there's going to be a dandy one made of former Googlers.
What makes the Psion story different is that many of the Psion veterans had to leave the UK, or join non-UK companies, in order to become successful. Some are in other parts of Europe, some are in the US, and some are in London but working for foreign companies. This is a source of intense frustration to the Psion folks I've talked with. They feel like not only their company failed, but their country failed to take advantage of the expertise they had built.
There's a big body of academic research on why Silicon Valley has been successful in sustaining itself, and part of the reason is that the Valley recycles companies very efficiently. Failing companies do not last long, but in the process the brightest people and ideas are rarely lost, they are just shuffled around into new configurations.
About a year ago, Andrew Orlowski of the Register wrote an amazing article on the history of Psion, and how company culture and government philosophy failed to take advantage of it to grow a new industry. It's the longest piece I've ever seen in the Register, almost the nucleus of a book, and it's well worth reading. It didn't get enough attention when it was published, and I'm embarrassed to say that I never posted a link to it. So I'm glad to remedy that now. If you want to understand the context what happened to Symbian, and learn a bit about how the tech industry works, go read it here.
If you want to hear more about what Symbian is morphing into, two of its executives have just started personal weblogs in which they are commenting on the migration to Symbian Foundation (among other things). It's an interesting move, and it seems symbolic of the transition they're trying to make into the open source world. Previously Symbian had a company blog that several execs contributed to; now the execs have personal blogs where they talk directly to the industry.
David Wood (Symbian's EVP of Research) link.
John Forsyth (Symbian's Strategy VP) link.
Review: Sandisk Cruzer Micro 8GB w/ U3 Technology
I picked up a Sandisk Cruzer Micro
USB Flash drive because it has a large 8GB capacity and was on sale. I bought it at Buy.com for $30 (would have been out the door but was charged sales tax). I chose Sandisk because of its brand and quality; I've had jumpdrives made by Sony in the past and the transfer rate was unacceptable and brands like Kingston or Sandisk seems to do the trick.
The first thing I noticed about this flash drive is the embedded "U3" technology; some type of protection of your data. Generally speaking, I hate the spam-ware or bloat-ware forced upon me by hardware makers. So regardless of how it functions, I just want my full 8GB Capacity and do not want anything else on there. I read about a few people complaining about it so I did not hesitate getting rid of this. Lucky for me, using Mac OS 
X, it was as easy as reformatting under Utilities>Disk Utility>ERASE.After that process, I was off to using this new jump drive. It looks great with retractable connector and is quite small. I test transferred some media files and the transfer rate is pretty fast. The retractable switch also lights up when plugged in. Anyone looking for a small, good looking USB drive should look no further, this one will pull the weight!
Review: BlackBerry 8830 Sprint
As I have mentioned, I recently got a new BlackBerry 8830 World Editon with Sprint. Its been a while since I've upgraded a BlackBerry, the one I've had until now was a BlackBerry 8700c (older, EDGE with Cingular/AT&T). Needless to day, the new unit is much more advanced in terms of 3G connectivity, LCD Display and software/application support.
Hardware: the 8830 looks very sleek looking with a thin candybar profile which fits in my pocket nicely. Laying the device on a table makes you want to take a double look at its beautiful minimalist design. Having full QWERTY keyboard is nice, I miss having this luxury since I am relying on my N95-3 (standard 12-key numeric) now days. The 8830's QWERTY has a nice texture to it; the keys' surface has a bit of a protrution which feels better on the finger tips (unlike the 8700c keypad which has a flat surface). As mentioned, this is a Sprint version so its my first EV-DO 3G handset from a CDMA carrier and I am very impressed by the web speed. This is also the world edition which will allow me to make a roaming phone call when visiting countries running 900/1800 GSM network (which happens to be none US GSM bands). This 
is the first BlackBerry I've used using the trackball which took me a little to get used to; I am either too fast or too slow for the trackball sensitivity. The way I describe it is the trackball feels more analog whereas the classic scroll wheel is more digital which matches up each click nicely with the next icon across the screen. Other noteworthy hardware feature includes integrated-AGPS, MicroSD slot (next to the GSM Card slot in the battery compartment) and its support for a Media Player. The only complaint here is lack of WiFi and Camera.
Software: The best way to describe BlackBerry OS is "rigid", this OS is reliable as day 1. It didn' take me long to get familiar with BB's system. By contrast, I actually miss Symbian S60 application structure w/ the menu and sub-menu systems keeping things some what organized whereas BB's applications are just all scattered within one screen; which can look clustered after you have over 20+ icons. Some noteworthy improvements including shortcuts to various main functions like "profile", "search", etc... The addition of a media player is a plus; allowing you to playback videos, pictures and music files. Where the application really shines is the Google third party applications, such as the Google Maps (2.2 which supports real time train schedule) and GMAIL. Both applications are so well integrated that it actually feels like BlackBerry folks developed it as a native software; although a new app called BlackBerry Maps is now included, I find myself using Google Maps out of force of habit... largely because of the long history of having it available from my old BB days to WM6 to even Symbian S60.
An area where I was a litle disappointed is the lack of flexibility in the BlackBerry OS when it comes to downloading meda files. When I wanted to test out the music player, I tried several ways to load the music without having to pull the MicroSD card out of the device. When I send a URL for download, the browser says it won't support the file for playback (so downloading is not an option). I emailed the MP3 file as an attachedment, the device prompted me of exceeding BIS server limit. In the end, the only way to put music on device is to pull the MicroSD card out and use a card reader to transfer files. This is a little ironic because with the awesome EV-DO connectivity, I can't actually use it to download mass media file.Overall, I am pleased with BlackBerry 8830's performance. Its as reliable as ever and with the new functionality supporting media files and adding MicroSD storage solution, its better than ever. I am excited to add another smartphone to my staple and will look forward to testing out new mobile experiences with it!
Toshiba Releases Portege G810 Windows Mobile Smartphone
Two idle months after its April announcement, Toshiba Information Systems has finally unveiled the Toshiba Portege G810 at the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.The new smartphone is regarded as a fitting device for users that require both full functionality and mobility. Running on a Windows Mobile 6.1 platform, access to various Microsoft Office Mobile applications is readily provided,
Great Feature-Packed Phone By LG
Viewty is a wide touch screen phone and it can give iphone run for its money. Viewty is a product of LG and it has received the technology award of the year in the category of cell phones. Equipped with a 5.0 mega pixel auto focus camera this phone has boosted mobile photography. The phone looks very similar to a digital camera and it is difficult to differentiate whether it is a phone or camera
Business phone launched by Nokia
Nokia announced the launch of a high end business phone E71 to meet the needs of the corporate world. E71 has a 320×240 screen which is very clear and a 3.2 mega pixel camera. E71 supports GPS navigation, Bluetooth 2.0, Edge and GPRS. E71 contains single speaker which is clear enough for ring tones and supports loud music. The battery used in E71 is a 1500mAh battery which does not go down even
LG KF510 handy phone
The KF510 is a member of the LG KF family & is a stunning looking fashion phone which comes in two colour options which are a stardust dark grey colour or a sunset red colour scheme. This handset pays resemblance in design to the popular LG KG800 Chocolate phone & the LG KE800 Chocolate Platinum. The KF510 is a slim style mobile phone which is only 10.9mm in depth which feels good to hold in the single hands & is ideal for carrying purposes.
More features of handy phone
104.5 x 49.5 x 10.9 mm
Tri Band Technology (GSM 900, GSM 1800 & GSM 1900)
2.2 Inch TFT 262k Colour Screen with Light Sensor
Touch Sensitive Controls
Bluetooth® Technology
3 Megapixel Camera with Flash & Auto Focus
Music Player
LCD Driver
I lied, this is not the "Why iPhone Linux?" post; it's boring and philosophical anyway. Instead, I've got some hacking news!
So I've been putting off the LCD driver because I always thought it would be big and complicated. A long time ago, before I looked at all the USB code, I took one look at merlot_init and got scared off, but upon revisiting it, it really doesn't look that bad. I also was afraid of it possibly needing complicated interrupt routines, but now I can see that it only uses interrupts to dispatch spi and possibly gpio i/o, which is generic and not too bad.
I also was wondering why openiboot, as it is, makes the screen fade to (nearly) white in what pytey has called "disco lights" behavior. openiboot is obviously breaking the already initialized LCD driver somewhere. At first I thought it was because iBoot has stopped responding to interrupts necessary for the upkeep of the LCD, but an infinite loop before anything has happened will cause the LCD to remain the same. Therefore, I put a bunch of rudimentary "breakpoints" (infinite while-loops really) around the beginning of openiboot, and discovered that the LCD breaks when I initialize the system controller's power feature, which just turns off most devices. If I don't do that, the LCD stays initialized. What's more, I can just write raw ARGB (well, from the perspective that I am writing little-endian integers that are 0xAARRGGBB, it's actually BGRA in memory) into the vram range (as labeled here) and it'll show up on screen! This is without any sort of interrupt support or depending on any other memory resident code. So apparently, all that is needed is the initialization routine for basic functionality!
This is great news, and the upshot is that I think I can finish the LCD driver by the end of this weekend. In addition, cmw has already written a framebuffer that can be used after driver init, so we can display text and whatever we want.
So I've been putting off the LCD driver because I always thought it would be big and complicated. A long time ago, before I looked at all the USB code, I took one look at merlot_init and got scared off, but upon revisiting it, it really doesn't look that bad. I also was afraid of it possibly needing complicated interrupt routines, but now I can see that it only uses interrupts to dispatch spi and possibly gpio i/o, which is generic and not too bad.
I also was wondering why openiboot, as it is, makes the screen fade to (nearly) white in what pytey has called "disco lights" behavior. openiboot is obviously breaking the already initialized LCD driver somewhere. At first I thought it was because iBoot has stopped responding to interrupts necessary for the upkeep of the LCD, but an infinite loop before anything has happened will cause the LCD to remain the same. Therefore, I put a bunch of rudimentary "breakpoints" (infinite while-loops really) around the beginning of openiboot, and discovered that the LCD breaks when I initialize the system controller's power feature, which just turns off most devices. If I don't do that, the LCD stays initialized. What's more, I can just write raw ARGB (well, from the perspective that I am writing little-endian integers that are 0xAARRGGBB, it's actually BGRA in memory) into the vram range (as labeled here) and it'll show up on screen! This is without any sort of interrupt support or depending on any other memory resident code. So apparently, all that is needed is the initialization routine for basic functionality!
This is great news, and the upshot is that I think I can finish the LCD driver by the end of this weekend. In addition, cmw has already written a framebuffer that can be used after driver init, so we can display text and whatever we want.
Motorola and Kodak Announces MOTOZINE ZN5 in China
Motorola and Kodak today announced MOTOZINE ZN5. Featuring the Motorola’s ModeShift technology, the ZN5 can be used with KODAK easyshare software and easy access to KODAK Gallery or other web sharing sites, pictures are easily moved off the device, allowing consumers to print, share and enjoy their favorite photos whenever they want.ZN5 puts image capture first, with a high-resolution landscape
Palringo to Bring Messaging Service for BlackBerry
Palringo has released its software client for BlackBerry smartphones from Research In Motion. Palringo’s Rich Messaging Service is available for the BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry 8800 series smartphones.BlackBerry smartphone users can now easily chat using voice and picture messages as well as traditional text. Further, they can do so with other users of many of the popular
Samsung SGH-D780 Gold Plated Edition
Already available in Russia, Samsung has released a Samsung SGH-D780 Gold Plated Edition and become the official phone of Russia’s Olympic team. The Samsung SGH-D780 accepts 2 GSM sim cards. You can have 2 GSM network active at the same time without the need to reboot your phone.Samsung D780 comes with a 2 megapixel camera, 2.1-inch QVGA TFT, FM Radio, Bluetooth 2.0 and USB 2.0. It is also
Sony Ericsson W960i smart phone for music lovers
W960i is the latest member of Sony Ericsson W-series family. As other phones this is also designed for music lovers. You can enjoy great music experience with this. Disappointingly, the W960i's touchscreen isn't very finger friendly. It works better when you put the provided stylus to use, which isn't always convenient.
If it's music you're after, then the W960i comes prepped with 8GB of onboard memory, which is enough space to store up to 2,000 songs. Plus, getting music on to the W960i is a much easier process than in previous Walkman phones. Using the new Sony Ericsson media manager software is easy, which lets you drag and drop tracks straight into the phone.
This latest music player has 2Mp camera and VGA camera which allows you to get video calls. It supports HSPDA connectivity and good web browser included
More features of W960i
8GB memory and supports up to 2GB cards
2MP camera
Touch screen
Bluetooth and WI-FI
Media manager software for manage music files easyer
Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta by July 15th
Yup, Opera Mobile, the leader in 3rd party mobile browser is finally going to give us a glimpse of the latest release they are working on. With my favorite contender Skyfire in the works, the battle for a superior aftermarket mobile browser is on. Opera Mobile 9.5 is said to support Flash Lite 3 and produce faster page load speed. We'll see about that! (source: downloadsquad)
Travel Channel is Mobile Friendly w/ new App
Travel Channel GO has announced a new mobile application available to selected smartphones. While you can still visit Go.TravelChannel.com on your mobile browser, the application may be better suited for a better and more robust mobile experience. iPhone users can still count on the special web site developed for mobile Safari, the rest of us JAVA enabled handsets (Nokia & BlackBerry) should go through the said application.Dubbed as the "personal radar" for individuals, Travel Channel GO is intended to provide all of its exclusive content to your finger tips. Its an array of mobile/local search portal for all of your traveling needs (ie. directions, map and recommendations). The application is even suppose to work with devices with integrated GPS to help identify your location. To learn more about this, you can stop by the Travel Channel blog here.
I tested this application with my new BlackBerry 8830. The EV-DO download is amazingly fast and installation was pretty quick. The application design is sharp and pleasing on the eyes. UI is simple and intuitive using the trackball (left/right for menu icons, up/down for sub-menu icons). A lot of effort has been put behind this application and I really appreciate the detail. For example, in the settings, you can use it to turn on/off built-in GPS or when you type in the Zip codes, you don't need to press-alt button for numbers to show up.
Kudos to the Travel Channel GO for making its content absolutely friendly to the mobile community at free of charge; I would recommend anyone traveling trying out this service, its free!
Hands on with BlackBerry 8830 from Sprint
Research in Motion (RIMM) had a rough day today at the market place, stock price dropped by 13% due to a disappointing forecast.
In keeping with the theme on BlackBerry news, I got my hands on a brand new BlackBerry 8830 World Edition from Sprint. Yes, the mobile experience blog will now welcome a new smartphone to its family and will be providing all new BlackBerry updates using this beauty via EV-DO goodness.Stay tuned for more updates!
In-car iPhone Cradle Available for Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz now allows the iPhone connection to be fully integrated into the vehicle architecture. The new Apple iPhone cradle allows simple switching between the telephone and audio functions. For ease of use, the iPhone is controlled via the multifunction steering wheel, while the vehicle display is used to indicate the phone status or music functions and information such as the track title
New HTC Touch Diamond Might Come with Newer Rom
Most of the users who got their HTC Touch Diamond in Singapore last week have the ROM version 1.35.871.5WWE on their phone. Baronic in xda-developers forum has obtained a newer ROM version 1.37.707.1WWE from a Malaysia distributor and successfully upgraded his Diamond, he bought the Diamond in Malaysia.There is no official information on the improvements made or bug fixes from HTC. According to
Nokia Map Loader 2.0 beta Available
Nokia today put up the Map Loader 2.0 on their betalabs. The new version now includes a built in online store where you can purchase and download navigation, traffic information and city guide licenses directly to your device.Nokia Map Loader 2.0 is a PC application for Windows XP and Windows Vista. As long as your phone is connected with PC Suite you can trasnfer the maps or traffic information
Motorola U9 PEBL2 dual touch display phone
Motorola U9 is a one of latest mobile phone which comes with very special features. It is a flap mobile phone and it is very special because the external display is touch sensitive. It is a 1.4 Inch OLED one. Other specification it it’s design. U9 has very attractive design including 2inch screen
. This beautiful Motorola U9 is a elegant & fashionable mobile phone which comes in an eye catching handset. The U9 is from the same family as the Motorola PEBL which can be seen in the design & shape of the Motorola U9. The U9 is also known as the Motorola PEBL U9 or PEBL2. The U9 comes with an outstanding external screen which is touch sensitive. The external screen is a borderless screen which is 1.4 Inches in size.
The internal memory of this phone is 25Mp but it supports up to 2Gb SD cards. Also it has a quality music player which supports many file formats and 2Mp camera.
More features of Motorola U9 PEBL2
Bluetooth® Technology
25 Mbytes Memory Plus MicroSD™ Memory Card Support
Internal 2 Inch TFT 262k Colour Screen
External 1.4 Inch OLED Touch Sensitive 65k Colour Screen
Music Player (MP3, AAC & WMA)
2 Megapixel Camera
Samsung OMNIA
Introducing the Samsung OMNIA meaning "everything" in Latin and "wish" in Arabic, is essentially "everything" that you can possibly "wish" for in a phone. For those that think twice of seeing the device before, it looks like the Instinct offered by Sprint PCS except running on WM 6.1 Pro plus more. It is a fully touch based with high resolution and a platinum type finish. Competing against the other major manufacturers, Samsung is introducing to WM a patended UI, TouchWiz. It allows for tap, sweep, drag/drop and allows for customization of your home/start page with widgets. It even includes a optical mouse similar to those on laptops for easier navigation. Typing on the phone is done via a onscreen QWERTY keyboard. Enhancements to more "standard" features of phones targeted to this audience include: a 5MP CMOS camera w/ auto-focus face and smile detection and auto-panorama shot, option for 8 or 16GB flash memory with additional storage option, GPS with included navigation and geo-tagging capabilities, HSDPA, video recording, FM radio, MS Office, and more.All in all, this phone is a great new competitor to fight against the likes of the Sony Xperia, HTC Touch Diamond, HTC Touch Pro, iPhone v2.0, and more to come. In my opinion, the Touch Pro and Xperia is for a niche within this segment of phones since it includes the physical keyboard. The decision is up to you but its a real tight race dependent on which UI is fit for you and your priorities of feature sets.
Symbian changes everything, and nothing
[With a correction made on June 26.]
The Symbian Foundation announcement today is a fascinating change in business strategy, but I'm not sure if it will help or hurt Nokia in the long run. I think something like this was probably necessary just to clean up the mess in Symbian's ownership structure. If Nokia can make the new structure work, it'll be a milestone in the use of open source by large tech companies, but I'm not sure it helps Nokia win the smartphone war.
What happened
--Nokia is buying Symbian. Everyone currently working at Symbian becomes a Nokia employee after the deal closes. Nokia said it will spend the next six months deciding "how we will use the unique talent we are gaining."
[By the way, the buyout by Nokia is a change I said was possible two and a half years ago when it first became clear that some of Symbian's owners wanted out (link). I am astounded that the change took so long. I looked back at my old post a few months ago and thought, "wow, I really got that one wrong." Now I am relieved to say that I was not wrong, I was merely prematurely correct ;-) ]
--Symbian OS will become free. Nokia's Symbian-related assets, including both Symbian OS and the S60 interface, will be contributed to the new Symbian Foundation, a nonprofit that will control the Symbian platform. So Nokia writes the code and then gives it to the foundation for free.
Founding members of the foundation include: AT&T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, DoCoMo, Samsung, SonyEricsson, ST Micro, TI, and Vodafone. It's very interesting to see some operators in the mix, especially AT&T.
The foundation will open source the new Symbian platform over a two year period. So eventually Symbian will be available for free.
The new Symbian Platform will have a broader scope than the current Symbian OS. It will include:
-An application suite (previously controlled by licensees)
-Runtimes (including Webkit, Flash, Silverlight, and Java; previously licensee-controlled)
-UI framework (formerly controlled by licensees)
-Middleware
-OS
-Tools, SDK, and application signing (previously shared between Symbian and licensees)
--UIQ is dead. SonyEricsson's UIQ technology, and NTT DoCoMo's MOAP, both of which are user interface layers written on top of Symbian, will also be contributed to the foundation, which will incorporate pieces of them into S60. The new Symbian foundation partners said at the press conference, "We will reposition UIQ in the new ecosystem." That's seems to be a face-saving way of saying, "UIQ is dead." Confirming that, UIQ announced immediate plans to lay off more than half its employees (link).
These are huge changes, even though they'll take a couple of years to implement. We won't get the first release of the new merged platform until 2010, although the partners say S60 and native Symbian apps will continue to run in the future, so they hope many more developers will create Symbian apps today in anticipation of future growth.
--Nokia will continue to control Symbian development. This is my interpretation, not something they announced. Technically, control over Symbian and S60 passes to the new Symbian Foundation, with product plans controlled by a managing board and councils made up of foundation members. This makes Symbian sound independent. But Nokia will employ most of the people maintaining and extending Symbian and S60, and could divert them to other Nokia projects if it ever dislikes the direction of the foundation. More to the point, the whitepaper explaining the new foundation says, "device manufacturers will be eligible for seats based on number of Symbian Foundation platform-based devices shipped, with the other board members selected by election and contribution" (link).So Nokia as the dominant shipper of Symbian devices gets the most seats, and can then control the election of additional board members. Symbian contacted me on June 26 with a correction: "Five Foundation board seats will be allocated to handset vendors on the basis of volumes shipped using the Symbian Foundation platform. There will be a maximum of one (1) board seat per company." So Nokia gets one board seat, and does not control the foundation.
The right phrase for this, I think, is puppet strings. But I don't mean that in a bad way; it would have been insane for Nokia to actually give up control over its smartphone OS.Just don't have any illusion that the strings have been cut. They've merely been relocated, and in fact I think Nokia now controls things more directly since it owns the Symbian development team. Added June 26: Nokia has given other companies a formal say in the feature set, with less official control by Nokia than it had when it held about 50% of Symbian, but perhaps more practical influence because it now directly employs most of the people doing the engineering. So I think Nokia gave up the official veto it had over Symbian's actions, and replaced it with a practical one.
What does it all mean?
I don't know.
The announcement is so complex, and so many things are changing in the mobile market, that it's very difficult to predict how everything will turn out. Also, the whole thing depends on crisp implementation. Even the most brilliant strategy fails if you can't execute on it.
You can't say that Nokia lacks guts. The foundation members said at the announcement that it is one of the largest open source announcements ever, and I think that's true. It's a very interesting, aggressive move for Nokia, and I respect that. There are precedents for a big company acting as a sugar daddy for an open source software project, but I don't think it's ever been done with a project that is as central to the parent company's operations as Symbian is to Nokia. It will be fascinating to see if Nokia can really work effectively through the foundation model. I presume they have thought about this a lot and feel the risks are well controlled.
I'm having trouble seeing the big picture of how this changes the world, though. I suspect the announcement is actually half cleanup and half power move. The power move is that it challenges Android, and could help harness the energy of the open source community to support Symbian. The cleanup is that the ownership situation of Symbian was unstable and had to be changed eventually, and SonyEricsson clearly wanted to get out of the UIQ business. The creation of the foundation solves all of those problems at once. My guess is that since Nokia is paying most of the bills, the other foundation partners were willing to go along with it. The Symbian investors get some money from Nokia, and can sit back and wait to see what the foundation delivers.
Here are some other issues and questions that stand out to me:
Symbian gets its UI back. Years ago, Symbian took itself out of the user interface business, allowing Nokia and NTT DoCOMo to develop their own UIs, and spinning out the UIQ interface team. The company declared that it had been a mistake to ever go into the UI business. So it was amusing to hear Symbian at today's press conference saying how disruptive it was to have multiple user interfaces, and how great it is to have them unified.
The reality is that OS companies have traditionally created the UI along with the rest of the OS because they need to be coordinated closely, and because developers want to work with one consistent interface. So the real mistake was getting out of the UI business, and Symbian has now corrected that.
What will happen within Nokia? At the press conference, Nokia was asked what happens to its internal S60 development team (which is rumored to be larger than Symbian itself) once the merger is complete. Nokia said vaguely that it's going to spend six months working out all those integration issues, and what it will do with the multiple geographic locations. It's hard for me to believe that working out process won't result in some layoffs. I hope I'm wrong; I have friends at both Nokia and Symbian, and layoffs would be incredibly painful for the Symbian folks, many of whom have spent most of their careers there.
The fate of the people is just one of the open questions about what the merger means to Nokia. Another is the fate of Trolltech, the development tool that Nokia purchased recently and said would unify app development across Series 40 and S60. Will it be contributed to Symbian? And what does the open sourcing of Symbian mean for Nokia's use of Linux?
How does Nokia differentiate its software? The theory behind S60 was that Nokia would have its own user interface, helping to differentiate its phones from other Symbian vendors. Now that S60 will be given away, how will Nokia differentiate? The Symbian Foundation says licensees will be able to create a "differentiated experience" on its unified UI framework. Lord only knows what that means. Maybe Nokia has decided the UI is not a point of differentiation at all, and plans to focus on something else (web services, perhaps?)
Will the change in Symbian really drive more developers? As the Symbian partners pointed out repeatedly in the press conference, they have already sold 200 million phones. If that's not enough to excite developers, how will adding another 200 million -- or even 500 million -- do it? Although Symbian now has a nicer long term story, I don't think most developers were paying attention to that. They respond to user excitement and the chance to make lots of money. The new Symbian strategy doesn't directly drive either one.
What does it mean to Apple? I think it's probably good news. Although the Symbian partners could theoretically bleed Apple by sharing investments that Apple has to fund for itself, Apple competes on speed and elegance, not cost control. Nokia and Symbian will now spend the next six months sorting out how they'll integrate and rationalize their organizations. No matter how much they try to avoid it, this will slip schedules and force people to revisit plans. And the other Symbian licensees have to wait two years for the new OS. That gives Apple a long, long time to build up its iPhone business. The Register put it very bluntly in its commentary on the Symbian announcement (link):
Wow, from new entrant to industry leader in just a year. That sort of stuff must drive Nokia nuts.
Is Google happy or upset tonight? My first reaction is to say that Google should be worried because there's now another very credible operating system being given away for free in competition with Android (or there will be in two years). What's more, the leading mobile handset companies all participated in the Symbian Foundation announcement. That makes it harder for Android to get licensees. But the new open Symbian OS is two years away from shipment, giving Google lots of runway to get established (that's what I meant about execution determining the real impact of the announcement). Also, the governance system for Android is a lot simpler than Symbian's. While the Symbian committees must debate and agree on product plans, Google can just decide whatever features it wants to add, and toss them out there. In theory, Google should be able to move much faster.
Besides, there is the question of why Google really created Android. One school of thought says that Android was just a tool to bleed Microsoft and force openness in the mobile ecosystem. If that's the goal, then the opening up of Symbian is a kind of a triumph for Google. Nokia is, in many ways, doing Google's work for it. Which brings us to...
What happens to Microsoft? Here's the weird thought for the day: Microsoft is the last major company charging money for a mobile operating system. The throwback. The dinosaur. How many companies are going to want to pay for Windows Mobile when they can get Linux, Android, or Symbian for free? This is Microsoft's ultimate open source nightmare, becoming real.
The Symbian Foundation announcement today is a fascinating change in business strategy, but I'm not sure if it will help or hurt Nokia in the long run. I think something like this was probably necessary just to clean up the mess in Symbian's ownership structure. If Nokia can make the new structure work, it'll be a milestone in the use of open source by large tech companies, but I'm not sure it helps Nokia win the smartphone war.
What happened
--Nokia is buying Symbian. Everyone currently working at Symbian becomes a Nokia employee after the deal closes. Nokia said it will spend the next six months deciding "how we will use the unique talent we are gaining."
[By the way, the buyout by Nokia is a change I said was possible two and a half years ago when it first became clear that some of Symbian's owners wanted out (link). I am astounded that the change took so long. I looked back at my old post a few months ago and thought, "wow, I really got that one wrong." Now I am relieved to say that I was not wrong, I was merely prematurely correct ;-) ]
--Symbian OS will become free. Nokia's Symbian-related assets, including both Symbian OS and the S60 interface, will be contributed to the new Symbian Foundation, a nonprofit that will control the Symbian platform. So Nokia writes the code and then gives it to the foundation for free.
Founding members of the foundation include: AT&T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, DoCoMo, Samsung, SonyEricsson, ST Micro, TI, and Vodafone. It's very interesting to see some operators in the mix, especially AT&T.
The foundation will open source the new Symbian platform over a two year period. So eventually Symbian will be available for free.
The new Symbian Platform will have a broader scope than the current Symbian OS. It will include:
-An application suite (previously controlled by licensees)
-Runtimes (including Webkit, Flash, Silverlight, and Java; previously licensee-controlled)
-UI framework (formerly controlled by licensees)
-Middleware
-OS
-Tools, SDK, and application signing (previously shared between Symbian and licensees)
--UIQ is dead. SonyEricsson's UIQ technology, and NTT DoCoMo's MOAP, both of which are user interface layers written on top of Symbian, will also be contributed to the foundation, which will incorporate pieces of them into S60. The new Symbian foundation partners said at the press conference, "We will reposition UIQ in the new ecosystem." That's seems to be a face-saving way of saying, "UIQ is dead." Confirming that, UIQ announced immediate plans to lay off more than half its employees (link).
These are huge changes, even though they'll take a couple of years to implement. We won't get the first release of the new merged platform until 2010, although the partners say S60 and native Symbian apps will continue to run in the future, so they hope many more developers will create Symbian apps today in anticipation of future growth.
--Nokia will continue to control Symbian development. This is my interpretation, not something they announced. Technically, control over Symbian and S60 passes to the new Symbian Foundation, with product plans controlled by a managing board and councils made up of foundation members. This makes Symbian sound independent. But Nokia will employ most of the people maintaining and extending Symbian and S60, and could divert them to other Nokia projects if it ever dislikes the direction of the foundation. More to the point, the whitepaper explaining the new foundation says, "device manufacturers will be eligible for seats based on number of Symbian Foundation platform-based devices shipped, with the other board members selected by election and contribution" (link).
The right phrase for this, I think, is puppet strings. But I don't mean that in a bad way; it would have been insane for Nokia to actually give up control over its smartphone OS.
What does it all mean?
I don't know.
The announcement is so complex, and so many things are changing in the mobile market, that it's very difficult to predict how everything will turn out. Also, the whole thing depends on crisp implementation. Even the most brilliant strategy fails if you can't execute on it.
You can't say that Nokia lacks guts. The foundation members said at the announcement that it is one of the largest open source announcements ever, and I think that's true. It's a very interesting, aggressive move for Nokia, and I respect that. There are precedents for a big company acting as a sugar daddy for an open source software project, but I don't think it's ever been done with a project that is as central to the parent company's operations as Symbian is to Nokia. It will be fascinating to see if Nokia can really work effectively through the foundation model. I presume they have thought about this a lot and feel the risks are well controlled.
I'm having trouble seeing the big picture of how this changes the world, though. I suspect the announcement is actually half cleanup and half power move. The power move is that it challenges Android, and could help harness the energy of the open source community to support Symbian. The cleanup is that the ownership situation of Symbian was unstable and had to be changed eventually, and SonyEricsson clearly wanted to get out of the UIQ business. The creation of the foundation solves all of those problems at once. My guess is that since Nokia is paying most of the bills, the other foundation partners were willing to go along with it. The Symbian investors get some money from Nokia, and can sit back and wait to see what the foundation delivers.
Here are some other issues and questions that stand out to me:
Symbian gets its UI back. Years ago, Symbian took itself out of the user interface business, allowing Nokia and NTT DoCOMo to develop their own UIs, and spinning out the UIQ interface team. The company declared that it had been a mistake to ever go into the UI business. So it was amusing to hear Symbian at today's press conference saying how disruptive it was to have multiple user interfaces, and how great it is to have them unified.
The reality is that OS companies have traditionally created the UI along with the rest of the OS because they need to be coordinated closely, and because developers want to work with one consistent interface. So the real mistake was getting out of the UI business, and Symbian has now corrected that.
What will happen within Nokia? At the press conference, Nokia was asked what happens to its internal S60 development team (which is rumored to be larger than Symbian itself) once the merger is complete. Nokia said vaguely that it's going to spend six months working out all those integration issues, and what it will do with the multiple geographic locations. It's hard for me to believe that working out process won't result in some layoffs. I hope I'm wrong; I have friends at both Nokia and Symbian, and layoffs would be incredibly painful for the Symbian folks, many of whom have spent most of their careers there.
The fate of the people is just one of the open questions about what the merger means to Nokia. Another is the fate of Trolltech, the development tool that Nokia purchased recently and said would unify app development across Series 40 and S60. Will it be contributed to Symbian? And what does the open sourcing of Symbian mean for Nokia's use of Linux?
How does Nokia differentiate its software? The theory behind S60 was that Nokia would have its own user interface, helping to differentiate its phones from other Symbian vendors. Now that S60 will be given away, how will Nokia differentiate? The Symbian Foundation says licensees will be able to create a "differentiated experience" on its unified UI framework. Lord only knows what that means. Maybe Nokia has decided the UI is not a point of differentiation at all, and plans to focus on something else (web services, perhaps?)
Will the change in Symbian really drive more developers? As the Symbian partners pointed out repeatedly in the press conference, they have already sold 200 million phones. If that's not enough to excite developers, how will adding another 200 million -- or even 500 million -- do it? Although Symbian now has a nicer long term story, I don't think most developers were paying attention to that. They respond to user excitement and the chance to make lots of money. The new Symbian strategy doesn't directly drive either one.
What does it mean to Apple? I think it's probably good news. Although the Symbian partners could theoretically bleed Apple by sharing investments that Apple has to fund for itself, Apple competes on speed and elegance, not cost control. Nokia and Symbian will now spend the next six months sorting out how they'll integrate and rationalize their organizations. No matter how much they try to avoid it, this will slip schedules and force people to revisit plans. And the other Symbian licensees have to wait two years for the new OS. That gives Apple a long, long time to build up its iPhone business. The Register put it very bluntly in its commentary on the Symbian announcement (link):
"Apple must now see a clear road ahead for world dominance...it's now Apple's business to lose."
Wow, from new entrant to industry leader in just a year. That sort of stuff must drive Nokia nuts.
Is Google happy or upset tonight? My first reaction is to say that Google should be worried because there's now another very credible operating system being given away for free in competition with Android (or there will be in two years). What's more, the leading mobile handset companies all participated in the Symbian Foundation announcement. That makes it harder for Android to get licensees. But the new open Symbian OS is two years away from shipment, giving Google lots of runway to get established (that's what I meant about execution determining the real impact of the announcement). Also, the governance system for Android is a lot simpler than Symbian's. While the Symbian committees must debate and agree on product plans, Google can just decide whatever features it wants to add, and toss them out there. In theory, Google should be able to move much faster.
Besides, there is the question of why Google really created Android. One school of thought says that Android was just a tool to bleed Microsoft and force openness in the mobile ecosystem. If that's the goal, then the opening up of Symbian is a kind of a triumph for Google. Nokia is, in many ways, doing Google's work for it. Which brings us to...
What happens to Microsoft? Here's the weird thought for the day: Microsoft is the last major company charging money for a mobile operating system. The throwback. The dinosaur. How many companies are going to want to pay for Windows Mobile when they can get Linux, Android, or Symbian for free? This is Microsoft's ultimate open source nightmare, becoming real.
New Samsung W510 and F268 Are Environmentally Friendly
Samsung announced two environmentally friendly mobile handsets, W510 and F268, at the World IT Show in Seoul this week.W510 is Samsung’s first mobile phone with ‘bio-plastic’ made from natural material extracted from corn. Samsung has been making an effort to develop more renewable and eco-friendly material compared with common plastic produced from petroleum. Samsung F268 and all its accessories
Rumor: HTC to Launch 10 New Models in 2008?
Peter Chou, president and CEO of HTC, told DigiTimes that HTC will launch 10 more phones in the second half of this year. Additional info on the upcoming models is not available. The new models might have also included the Touch Diamond/Touch Pro variant for different regions or service providers. HTC estimates to sell 3 millions of the new Touch Diamond by the end of this year.
An introduction to the blog
Sometimes, I like to write down my thoughts about stuff. My graphomania tends to be sporadic, but it is nice to have a place where I can exercise it when I experience it. The dev team has a bit of a taboo against blogging, which is why I haven't done it before. "Code, not ego" is our creed, and some of us believe that blogging sometimes lead to the interests of the community or the team being compromised in order to gain attention. However, I don't see anything wrong with sharing some of my love for the art... as long as I practice discretion and good taste.
Besides, we have an "official blog" now, so I feel like the playing field is open. ;)
This blog is for the developers of iPhone Linux. Any developer who's working on the project (sadly, a very short list of individuals) can ask me for write permissions here. The format will be kept largely informal. Major announcements and technical information will go on the wiki, but I'll personally be dumping a lot of technical information here on the blog as well when I can't decide/can't be bothered to condense and format it for the wiki. Views represented here are of the individual developer and not of the project in general.
Let me introduce myself though: Hi, I'm planetbeing. I'm currently, I suppose, the lead developer on the iPhone Linux project by virtue of circumstance. I was introduced to this project by cmw, a hacker who has a ton of experience porting Linux and other operating systems to a variety of equipment in the past. Unfortunately, he's currently largely burdened with other commitments. Even so, he helps out as much as he can, and he has some very exciting projects bubbling in the background that I'm sure you'll hear about soon. :)
I'm also a member of the iPhone Dev Team. While iPhone Linux has not official or direct connection with the Dev Team (I just happen to be on the Dev Team and also working on this project), its members often lend me valuable insight into many, many problems. Remember, less than a year ago I hadn't reversed a single line of code. I brought to the table (I hope) a quick and ready mind but only by hanging out with them was I able to fill it so fast.
Lastly, I tend to be overly locquacious in writing. Honestly, most people have one paragraph introduction posts and this is already War and Peace. For that, I apologize and I hope you will stick with me nevertheless.
My next post will be entitled "Why iPhone Linux?" It's something I often am challenged on and I thought I would write up an article justifying all the time I'm spending on it. :)
Besides, we have an "official blog" now, so I feel like the playing field is open. ;)
This blog is for the developers of iPhone Linux. Any developer who's working on the project (sadly, a very short list of individuals) can ask me for write permissions here. The format will be kept largely informal. Major announcements and technical information will go on the wiki, but I'll personally be dumping a lot of technical information here on the blog as well when I can't decide/can't be bothered to condense and format it for the wiki. Views represented here are of the individual developer and not of the project in general.
Let me introduce myself though: Hi, I'm planetbeing. I'm currently, I suppose, the lead developer on the iPhone Linux project by virtue of circumstance. I was introduced to this project by cmw, a hacker who has a ton of experience porting Linux and other operating systems to a variety of equipment in the past. Unfortunately, he's currently largely burdened with other commitments. Even so, he helps out as much as he can, and he has some very exciting projects bubbling in the background that I'm sure you'll hear about soon. :)
I'm also a member of the iPhone Dev Team. While iPhone Linux has not official or direct connection with the Dev Team (I just happen to be on the Dev Team and also working on this project), its members often lend me valuable insight into many, many problems. Remember, less than a year ago I hadn't reversed a single line of code. I brought to the table (I hope) a quick and ready mind but only by hanging out with them was I able to fill it so fast.
Lastly, I tend to be overly locquacious in writing. Honestly, most people have one paragraph introduction posts and this is already War and Peace. For that, I apologize and I hope you will stick with me nevertheless.
My next post will be entitled "Why iPhone Linux?" It's something I often am challenged on and I thought I would write up an article justifying all the time I'm spending on it. :)
BlackBerry Bold 9000 3G HSDPA phone with Large screen
BlackBerry Bold 9000 is the latest 3G phone which powered with HSDPS technology. As recent BlackBerry phone it is powered with BlackBerry Maps™ software. It has 2Mp camera with flash and 128Mb internal memory.
The BlackBerry® Bold 9000 is a stylish looking & highly capable business phone which comes with a large colour screen complete with a full QWERTY keyboard. The screen is large in size which makes a clear & good sized viewing experience on this stunning 3G Smartphone. The screen provides a clear colourful display with premium screen clarity & a 480 by 320 pixel screen resolution. The BlackBerry® Bold 9000 comes in a black coloured casing complete with chrome coloured edges which gives this business phone an attractive appearance.
More features of BlackBerry Bold 9000
Full QWERTY Keyboard
BlackBerry Maps™
3G HSDPA Technology
128 Mbytes Flash Memory plus MicroSD™ Support up to 8 Gbytes
65k Colour Screen (480 x 320 Pixels)
2 Megapixel Camera with Flash
In-flight Wifi, a reality
American Airline will be testing an in-flight WiFi utilizing AirCell technology tomorrow. For anywhere from $9.95 to $12.95 depending on the duration of the flight, you can now pass the time with the world wide web at 35,000 feet. AA will be the third domestic airline to test onboard WiFi service next to JetBlue and Virgin.As this technology becomes ready for mainstream, what would our flight experience be like? For starters, business guys can now utilize this downtime to checkup on emails and increase work productivity. Students can rely on the web to finish a school project or elect to waste time via Facebook or whatever Web2.0 hottness at the time. Entertainment is suddenly more available with YouTube, Hulu.com and Sling Media player readily available. Communication using IM, Twitter, and Email will be great to inform friends and family about your real time status.
Vodafone UK to Sell HTC Touch Diamond next month
Coming Soon. As stated on Vodafone business section, they will start selling the new Touch Diamond in UK next month. Similar to other phones offered in the business section, you will get a free bluetooth headset and handsfree car kit with your purchase online.The HTC Touch Diamond description on the pageFeature rich Windows Mobile 6.1 device utilising HTC’s new Touchflow UI. This device is in a
Nokia 6300i with Nokia Maps application
Nokia has launched many types of mobile phones with navigation devices. The most popular one is Nokia N95. N95 has GPS navigation and also it has a Google maps application. Now they have performed their own maps application named Nokia Maps.
Nokia 6300i is the first mobile phone which has Nokia Maps software.
The Nokia 6300i is a highly capable mobile phone complete with voice over IP call feature & easy to use communication features. The handset comes in a subtle grey coloured casing with well spaced out function keys & keypad. The Nokia 6300i has a solid bar styled casing which is easy to hold & operate due to its well proportioned casing. It is 11.7mm deep by 43.6mm wide by 106.4mm tall & it weighs 93 gram with the battery included.
Nokia has developed 6300i’s display to 2 inch TFT QVGA Screen which supports 320 x 240 Pixels resolution. And also it has WLAN technology and 30Mb internal memory.
More features of Nokia 6300i
2 Inch 16.7 Million Colour TFT QVGA Screen (320 x 240 Pixels)
2 Megapixel Camera with 8 x Digital Zoom
WLAN Technology
Nokia Maps
Music Player (MP3, AAC, ACC+, eAAC+ & WMA)
30 Mbytes plus 512 Mbytes MicroSD™ Memory Card
Jawbone II Bluetooth Headset - $97 shipped
Saw this offer from a couple of popular tech bargain sites. The Jawbone II (one of the best bluetooth wireless headset) can be had for $97 shipped via 2-day shipping from your friendly AT&T Wireless online store. Grab them while they last!
Griffin Brings Non-Bluetooth Alternative Headset Solutions
As I've mentioned from my other blog, WittyMarketing, the California driving law banning the use of handset while driving is starting to pickup some national attention. Mobile community is taking the initiative to make driving safer by producing more hands free solutions. Personally, I've never been a big fan of bluetooth headsets, largely because I find this solution more of a problem when it comes to draining my mobile phone and the need to keep it charged.
I've always preferred stereo headphones with built-in mic; most phones like the HTC 8525, Nokia N95 and iPhone usually comes with a set, quality, however is arguable. Griffin just announced two products that will help you in this area: 1). Griffin TuneBuds Mobile (not to be mixed with the standard TuneBuds), a pair of high quality headphones designed to fit better on your ears and offers an inline mic, 2). Griffin SmartTalk is a cool solution if you've already invested in a nice set of headphones. Its a simple inline mic and adaptor that lets you plug in your own headphones. Great for those that have invested in an expensive pair of Bose or Shure headphones.I will try to get my hands on both to provide a full-on review, stay tuned!
Tip: Generally speaking, a headset with built-in mic would have a third black ring on the male plug, see both images above!!!
Samsung Instinct Available on June 20 from $129.99
Sprint today announced pricing for Samsung Instinct. When the device launches on June 20, it will cost just $129.99 with a two-year contract after a $100 mail-in rebate. Though, Instinct must be activated on a pricing plan offering unlimited data. Customers can choose from Everything plans for individuals starting at $69.99 per month for 450 voice minutes or Talk/Message/Data Share plans for
Nokia completes Trolltech acquisition
European Commission announced that it had unconditionally approved Nokia’s voluntary tender offer for all the shares in Trolltech ASA. Nokia today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Trolltech.In addition to the key software assets, the Trolltech team will play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia’s software strategy. This will enable Nokia to accelerate
Sony Ericsson J132 Entry Level Phone Keep Dust Away
The next Sony Ericsson entry-level phones announced today is the Sony Ericsson J132. Also with torch functions and FM Radio, the J132 is a talk and text phone with FM radio, stereo hands free kit and equip with a dust-resistant keypad.Everything about the J132 is uncomplicated. Its clear and bright screen coupled with its one-click shortcuts and easy-to-use navigation key means that you are ready
Sony Ericsson K330 Entry Level Phone with VGA Camera
Sony Ericsson today announces two new entry-level phones, one of them is the K330 with a VGA camera. With superb talk and standby times, torch functions and FM Radio, the K330 also comes with the camera and Bluetooth functions.“There are certain phone features, such as a large phonebook and torch functionality, that are considered key to consumers in developing markets ” says James Marshall, Head
Daily Exercise: Nokia N95-3 Shuts Down Again
Yup, like I promised, I will continue to document for each time my Nokia N95-3 shuts itself down mysteriously since the firmware 20.2.11 upgrade (not much of an upgrade if you ask me, if it shuts itself down at random). This time, the phone shut itself down in the middle of the night, again.
For fun, this time, I will do a soft-reset *#7370# on handset to see if getting rid of all my installed apps may be the cause of this bug. Regardless, I second Michael Mace's article "Nokia goes for 1% Market Share in US", with the bad mobile experience I've had with Symbian S60 3rd Edition and Nokia's lack of quality control in dealing with software issues, I am walking away from them for good!
Update 6/24/08: I started a thread and found another thread on Howard Forums to see if anyone else is getting the same thing, answer is yes. Even the N95-4 people are having the same problem.
For fun, this time, I will do a soft-reset *#7370# on handset to see if getting rid of all my installed apps may be the cause of this bug. Regardless, I second Michael Mace's article "Nokia goes for 1% Market Share in US", with the bad mobile experience I've had with Symbian S60 3rd Edition and Nokia's lack of quality control in dealing with software issues, I am walking away from them for good!
Update 6/24/08: I started a thread and found another thread on Howard Forums to see if anyone else is getting the same thing, answer is yes. Even the N95-4 people are having the same problem.
LG KU990 Viewty with 5.1Mp camera
Most of people like large screen mobile phones because they can watch videos and pictures with good quality. Now LG is going o fulfill this need. They have launched their KU990 with 3 inch large touch display. It supports to 240 x 400 Pixels. And they have also improved its camera. It is 5.1Mp and allows to record DVD quality videos.
The LG KU990 Viewty is a touchscreen 3G mobile phone which comes with a high quality camera & imaging features. The Viewty is a member of the LG family & pays significant resemblance to the popular LG Prada which is also a fashion conscious touchscreen mobile phone. The Viewty is a solid design with no fancy opening systems which weighs 112 gram & the overall measurements of the handset make it easy for the user to use & carry whether the handset is in the users pocket when carrying or in the users hand when in use.
More features of LG KU990
5.1 Megapixel Camera with Xenon Flash & Auto Focus
Video Record
3 Inch TFT LCD 262k Touch Screen (240 x 400 Pixels)
FM Radio RDS
100 Mbytes Memory plus MicroSD™ Memory Card Support
3G HSDPA Technology
GSM Mast Installations (Density)
GSM Mast Installations (Density).When planning a cellular radio network there are many aspects to consider. The matter of radio technology and their frequencies (carriers) are but two examples. A relevance to be understood from these examples relate to what services may be obtained and delivered through these carriers? GSM for basic voice and text services and W-CDMA providing high data rates for
GSM MS List of States for the cell selection process
GSM MS List of States for the cell selection processThe GSM mobile station (MS) enters various states when switched on, but in the idle mode. Three such states are PLMN selection, cell selection and location registration that GSM standards described as a "set of states". The overall state of the mobile is thus a "composite of the states of the three processes". As TS 100 930 makes mention "In
What is the Samsung U900 Soul?
What do you know about magic touch navigation technology? It is a newest technology and now Samsung has launched a mobile phone with magic navigation technology. This stylish slider 3G mobile phone comes in an ultra slim casing which has been beautifully designed by Samsung. The Samsung U900 Soul is also known as the Samsung Soul which stands & means the Spirit Of ULtra. The U900 Soul is a member of the popular Samsung Ultra range which includes the Samsung U600 & the Samsung U700. The overall look & design of this stunning handset make it both pleasing on the eye as well as being a smooth phone to use & operate. As most recent mobile phones U900 has a 5Mp camera with auto focus. As many other Samsung phones, this has a great media player and radio with RDS. Still I have no idea about it’s memory but I think it is 4GB.
More features of Samsung U900
2.2 Inch TFT 16 Million Colour Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)
Magic Touch Navigation Pad by DaCP™
3G HSDPA Technology
5 Megapixel Camera with Auto Focus & Face Detection
Size 105 x 49.5 x 12.9 mm
Music Player with Bang & Olufsen Enhanced Audio
FM Radio RDS
US Court recognises expectation text message privacy
US Court recognises expectation of text messages privacyViolation the Fourth AmendmentRight to privacy under Art. I, Sec. 1 of the California ConstitutionInteresting case, worth reading, as it relates to a Police Office for the Ontario Police Department and others (one said to be a SWAT Officer) who apparenly used work text messaging services to send personal messages unrelated to work. U.S. 9th
Sony Ericsson G900i new member
Sony ericsson has launched their newest G range member. That is G900i. as the other G members it’s a smart and special phone which has many specifications. But unlike many other phones it has a 2.4 inch touch screen which has 240 x 320 Pixels resolution. The Sony Ericsson G range includes other 3G Smartphone including the Sony Ericsson G700i. The G900i is a solid candy bar designed handset which is available in a choice of two coloured casing which is a dark red coloured casing which looks quite elegant or a dark brown coloured casing which looks rather contemporary. The handset feels solid without feeling heavy to hold as it weighs ninety nine grams. Its dimensions are slim & compact when considering this Smartphone's built in features. The handset is only 13mm deep by 49mm wide by 106mm tall.
The 5Mp auto focus camera allows you to capture your favorites and you can record videos with DVD quality. And also unlike recent phones, G900i has symbian OS. You can install great S60 applications.
More features of Sony Ericsson G900i
2.4 Inch 262k TFT Touch Screen (240 x 320 Pixels)
5 Megapixel Camera with Auto Focus & 3 x Digital Zoom
Media Player with Album Art
Opera™ Web Browser
Symbian™ OS
3G Technology
WLAN Wi-Fi Technology
Mobile Marketing in Practice
I work for a fairly large sized e-tailer within their corporate marketing group; our company oversees more than a dozen of familiar brands (catalog, online and brick & mortar). My job is to drive the best practices of online marketing and it has given me ample privileges to test out various emerging media(s). For one of the brands, I signed up with an external vendor to deliver a turnkey mobile commerce solution. This particular vendor offers an emulated checkout process which removed all the headaches of having to ask our IT team to lift a finger.The program was quickly established approximately six months ago; for a large part, the brand I've setup has made a minimal effort to market and drive this program; all efforts have been driven by the mobile vendor to reach their SMS database. I've decided to give this program a serious go before the year is over.
I lined up our brand marketing team to discuss my plan of attack:
1. Set a side really good offers; ie. 50% off of a name brand item, like New Balance shoes or Levi's denims. I believe that our basic offers currently running on email, paid search, affiliate marketing & online advertising is doing a pretty good job, in those said channels. But in order to "hook" someone to use mobile as a new channel, this offer has to be really sweet and promote a sense of exciting and urgency via alerts! The merchants from our company will no doubt give some push back when I asked for an aggressive offer; but I re-assured them this is a one time test and I am not anticipating a high volume turn-out. We are just gathering some tests results here.
2. Setup an all around emarketing blitz to encourage our customers to sign up for SMS communication for the exclusive "hooks" or offers. This includes emails, paid search, landing page, or even a line or two on print initiatives, etc. SMS communication is a very personal thing; its the last line of communication that has yet to be flooded by SPAM. So we want to really demonstrate that only the wildest and worthy offers are being passed through this exclusive channel.
3. Work out a synchornized supporting marketing plan with our mobile vendor; after we've communicated with our customers; they will blast out a few consecutive SMS alerts to our customers + their optd-in DB. Each alert will be announcing an amazing deal to drive either mobile commerce conversion or atleast get the customers to take SMS alert coupon codes to complete an order online. Eitherway, I'll known by looking at this exclusive coupon redemption rate to see if this mobile channel have potential.
4. The mobile vendor, as a bonus will also list our brand as a "featured" mobile vendor during this testing period; once again drive more mobile commerce awareness to their reach.
This marketing plan is intended as a test to see if our customers are ready to make the switch to mobile communication and commerce. With a legitimate and aggressive offer; I plan to get a test result once and for all. If anything, I'll be able to walk away knowing if our customers are ready to make the mobile switch. Will provide some updates in the future, stay tuned!
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